Ken Borland

It may have just been written in the stars or it may have been because the Bulls were forced to use the away changeroom at Loftus Versfeld, but Jake White was almost resigned to the inevitability after he suffered his first defeat as the home coach at the famous fortress at the weekend as they were beaten 30-26 by the Stormers in their United Rugby Championship derby.

The Bulls started poorly, trailing 0-18 after half-an-hour, but then stormed into a 26-18 lead with 12 minutes remaining. Only to let the game slip as the Stormers scored two brilliant late tries.

“They are refurbishing our changeroom so we had to use the away changeroom, and the team in that room doesn’t usually win here,” White quipped after the defeat. “But it’s my first loss at Loftus Versfeld and it’s not great.

“I was hoping the crowd would be a catalyst, they were making such a noise that we could hear them on the field. It’s disappointing we did not do them justice.

“But to sum the game up – we found a way to lose. We didn’t show enough composure, which previously we’ve been really good at. After the fightback and then taking the lead, we conceded silly penalties which was disappointing.

“Usually we find ways to win, we squeeze and squeeze and generally then put the opposition away. But today there were just lapses of concentration. We were never going to win every game at Loftus Versfeld,” White said with more seriousness.

With the Bulls, considered the dominant force in South African rugby after winning successive Currie Cups and the Rainbow Cup, languishing second-from-bottom on the URC log, perhaps that is why their players performed with an air of frantic desperation at times. The Stormers were presented with plenty of turnover opportunities and were in clinical mood, taking their chances with aplomb.

“Despite losing our tighthead prop [Mornay Smith] to his first carry of the game and Deon Fourie being very good on the ground, we still created opportunities to get around them and scored four tries.

“But then we also knocked-on a metre from their line or gave away penalties there. We gave them a couple of 22-entries and they scored twice. We were a bit hasty at times when we had them on the ropes.

“But after being 18-0 down, to score 26 points from there shows we’ve got to have something as a team. I’m very proud of the comeback and we must just find a way to learn from the defeat.

“So we will dust ourselves off and go back to work on Monday. The only way to get things right is to work hard. Credit to the Stormers for sticking to it for 80 minutes and scoring a couple of long-range tries,” White said.

There is little chance of Dean Elgar leaving the Proteas to become a T20 mercenary because his white-ball ability is, frankly, under-rated, but the nuggety left-hander is surely worth his weight in gold to the South African Test team.

Since making his debut in Perth at the end of 2012, and bagging a pair, Elgar has worked his way into the hearts of Proteas Test fans and is now the captain tasked with rebuilding the team to the sort of former glories they were in when he was first chosen.

For someone with such tenacity and bounce-back-ability – the tougher the situation the better Elgar seems to bat – it was perhaps fitting that his Test career should start with two ducks against the fearsome Mitchell Johnson.

Elgar certainly leads from the front on the field, putting his body on the line and valuing his wicket as greatly as anyone. But it is off the field where it seems he is also having a major impact. Never afraid to speak his mind, the 34-year-old is a no-nonsense cricketer, he plays the game hard and he expects his team-mates to do so too. Soft excuses are not tolerated and he is gradually dragging the best out of a Test team that has been gutted, in the years since he made his debut, by the retirements of Smith, Amla, Kallis, De Villiers, Du Plessis, Philander, Steyn and Morkel.

Test cricket is far from the sanitary, gentlemanly environment of the past and the second Test between South Africa and India at the Wanderers was a spicy affair. Stung by their poor performance in the first Test, it was good to see the Proteas willing to fight fire with fire. There was no standing back against the world’s No.1-ranked side.

That willingness to fight was shown by rookie Marco Jansen not backing off against Jasprit Bumrah; by Rassie van der Dussen, who put a difficult time behind him and also withstood the verbal volleys of wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, the man who dismissed him in the first innings when he claimed a catch on the bounce. Temba Bavuma was a cool head in the tense closing stages and refused to be rushed at the crease by the Indian bowlers running in before he was ready.

With Elgar fighting so hard at the other end, it was easy to see why his team-mates were inspired.

It has been a disappointing last year for the South African batting line-up as a whole, but there are runs to be had in the third Test starting at Newlands on Tuesday, with the pitch expected to be the best for batting the Proteas would have experienced for a long while.

There are still question marks over Aiden Markram and fans of Kyle Verreynne are expectant that he will soon make a Test score to match the three ODI half-centuries he has already scored.

But Bavuma and Elgar look in fine fettle, Van der Dussen and Keegan Petersen have the confidence of scores to their name, and the bowlers are a potent unit when they fire together.

You can forgive the Proteas misreading the Wanderers pitch and playing Keshav Maharaj, who only ended up bowling two overs in the match. He is bound to have a much greater role in Cape Town and we may even see him bowling alongside another left-arm spinner in George Linde.

Batting at No.7 still seems a slot too high for the talented Jansen and Linde has similar all-round credentials to Wiaan Mulder, so if conditions suit he could be in line for his fourth Test cap and first at home.

For now, a magnificent effort by the Proteas deserves to be celebrated while the anticipation builds for the decider at Newlands.

Anyone who still buys into the narrative that India are poor away from home has clearly not been keeping up to date because Virat Kohli’s men have won their last four series overseas.

That includes back-to-back triumphs in Australia and victory in England. But South Africa remains the one country where India have not managed to win a series. And the fact that Sri Lanka were the first subcontinent team to achieve that feat – in 2018/19 – does not sit well with the global superpowers.

Opener Lokesh Rahul is developing into one of India’s key batsmen and on Friday he admitted winning a series in South Africa for the first time is “extra motivation” for the team, although he is well aware of the challenges they will face in Centurion, Johannesburg and Cape Town.

“This is a huge series for us, we always take away tours as a challenge,” Rahul said. “A lot was said about India not being able to win overseas, but we worked really hard on it and we won in England and Australia.

“But we have not won a series here and that is extra motivation. We will try to be better this time and learn from our previous mistakes here.

“The pace and bounce here is very different to any other country, which is why it was important to get here earlier and we’ve had a great week of preparation, with a lot of intensity.

“Australia is fast and bouncy, but here the pitches start a bit slow, then quicken up and then slow down again, and you have to adjust. It’s an exciting place to play and the new ball plays a big part,” Rahul said.

Kohli was the only Indian batsman to average more than 35 on their previous tour here in early 2018 and the tourists will be relying on him again, along with his fellow 33-year-olds Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara to contribute much more.

They are hardly antiques, but their form in recent seasons suggests they will be looking over their shoulders at the younger generation.

Rahul himself had a miserable time in South Africa in 2018, scoring just 30 runs in four innings. But he believes he has the game-plan to put that right.

“I have to play close to the body, the same as an opener wherever you play. I need to try see off the new ball and that means leaving a lot of deliveries. We don’t want to be giving away wickets in the first 25-30 overs.

“I need to play tight, I did it in England as well. You need to be a lot more focused and disciplined here, you have to be patient to get your runs.

“It’s important that we start well with the bat and be prepared to leave the ball multiple times,” Rahul said.

Proteas star Quinton de Kock on Thursday morning apologised to his team-mates and South African fans for his withdrawal from the T20 World Cup match against the West Indies, but said his refusal to take the knee in support of the BLM initiative was not because he is racist, pointing out that he comes from a mixed-race home.

De Kock said his issue with being forced to take the knee was that it infringed on his own rights and the directive was imposed without any discussion with the team, on the morning of a vital World Cup game.

“For those who don’t know, I come from a mixed-race family. My half-sisters are Coloured and my step-mom is Black,” De Kock revealed in a statement. “For me, Black lives have mattered since I was born. Not just because there was an international movement.

“I was raised to understand that we all have rights, and they are important. I felt like my rights were taken away when I was told what we had to do in the way that we were told.

“We were previously told we had the choice to do what we felt we wanted to do. … I didn’t understand why I had to prove it with a gesture, when I live and learn and love people from all walks of life every day.

“When you are told what to do, with no discussion, I felt like it takes away the meaning. If I was racist, I could easily have taken the knee and lied, which is wrong and doesn’t build a better society,” De Kock said. 

De Kock criticised the CSA Board in his statement for what their directive did to the team on the morning of a crunch game. A seemingly distracted Proteas team started poorly against the West Indies, but recovered superbly to avoid a defeat which would have been their second in a row and would have made it extremely unlikely that they would qualify for the semi-finals.

De Kock revealed that the team had discussions with the Board on Wednesday night.

“Since our chat with the board last night, which was very emotional, I think we all have a better understanding of their intentions as well. I wish this had happened sooner, because what happened on match day could have been avoided.

“I was shocked that we were told on the way to an important match that there was an instruction that we had to follow, with a perceived ‘or else.’ I don’t think I was the only one.

“We have had camps … sessions … Zoom meetings. We know where we all stand. And that is together. I love every one of my team-mates, and I love nothing more than playing cricket for South Africa.

“It would have been better for everyone concerned if we had sorted this out before the tournament started. Then we could have focused on our job, to win cricket matches for our country. There always seems to be a drama when we go to World Cups. That isn’t fair,” De Kock said.

The 28-year-old ended his statement by praising Temba Bavuma for being “a flipping amazing leader” and made a plea to be allowed to play for his country again. Although he made no mention of whether he would now be willing to take a knee.